American Idol Instant Recap: Dalton Rapattoni, “Bird Set Free”

Thursday was the first night we saw Dalton leave it all out on the Idol stage

Kinda felt bad for Dalton finishing up tonight because nobody should have had to follow what Trent did a few minutes before, nevermind a dude fighting for his life on stage.

This was Dalton’s best performance of the season – at least live performance – and it wasn’t really close. The vocals were what’d you expect, but he threw his g-d heart and guts on the stage and that was the first time we’ve really seen Dalton show that kind of emotion. Sure, he cried during his first performance – which I’ll go down claiming was an act because they came out of nowhere – but this song was different. It fit him so perfect.

The irony of hearing Dalton sing “I Don’t Care If I sing off key” wasn’t lost on anyone, but you could see him pouring his soul out during the bridge and chorus. He was singing for himself there. I think Dalton’s been placed so high on the podium that as he’s been getting knocked down by just about every single person who critiques the show, his ego has taken shots. This was him getting his confidence back and doing something for himself. He was vulnerable and for the first time, he was believable.

I liked the performance as a whole. The vocal, well, that’s not Dalton’s thing. He’s not outsinging anyone left and I’m sure he’s aware of it. But he needed that performance if he wants to move on because next week, it should be a neck-and-neck battle between him and MacKenzie for that third spot and I’ll be honest – I have no idea who’s gonna win that.

Agree entirely. Unlike the first song, this did not feel at all manipulated. Keith Urban’s comment hit the nail on the head, in short emotion even if not 100% trumps soulless perfection. I am a Dalton fan. He seems very sincere. He is very musical. Yes he is limited vocally, but I am more interested in what he does week to week than I am of MacKenzie who was my fave to start but has been doing the same thing over and over again to the point that I no longer care. Keep up the good work.